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Drugs top booze in fatal US crashes, study reveals

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WASHINGTON – U.S. data has shown for the first time that drivers killed in crashes were more likely to be on drugs than drunk, with marijuana involved in more than a third of fatal accidents in 2015, a study released on Wednesday showed.

Forty-three percent of drivers tested in fatal crashes around the country in 2015 had used a legal or illegal drug, topping the 37 percent who showed alcohol levels above a legal limit, according to the report by the Governors Highway Safety Association and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, a nonprofit funded by distillers.

Among drivers killed in crashes who tested positive for drugs, 36.5 percent had used marijuana, followed by amphetamines and 9.3 percent, the study showed. It was based on the most recent available U.S. state data reported to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

The study included any substance that can impair driving, including illegal drugs, prescription medications, legal non-medicinal drugs and over the counter medicines.